Happy Easter

Sending a very blessed and happy Easter to each of my blogging buddies! 

 

A Different Easter

 

My Easter was definately different this year!

No egg hunt, no family gathered around a table ladened with ham, deviled eggs, sweet potatoes. 

The kids (that's great-grands for me) have grown past all that I guess. 

Everyone was scattered doing their own thing.

So, my grandson who was available along with his two young 'men' joined Shirley, John and I at a local restaurant. Some had burgers, Shirley had a salad and I had a brisket plate.

So far-fetched from past Easters but we all were so happy to get to spend some time together. 

Then we spent some time visiting at my apartment.

A good day for sure! 

Great-grandsons

Grandson and his Dad 

Shirley and me (her Mama)

My orchid which does not know how to stop blooming!

Have a great week! 

Hugs

Easter Time

                   

It's such a special time for us all... 

                                       And, busy!

I drove up to Shirley's on Good Friday. It was the 44th year that she has held a Good Friday bake sale featuring her chick cookies. People from near and far think it isn't Easter if they don't have Miss Shirley's chicks. Kids who grew up having that as an Easter treat are now buying them for their little ones and even grandchildren. My, how time flies!

So, that was a great outing for me. Came home and took an hour and a half nap!! It's exhausting just looking at all that yummy stuff being carried out the front door!! 

                                                                                            

I've been working on a match three game on my Kindle.... for weeks. They dump a whole ton of pictures out on the screen and you match 3 at a time until you are finished. And, it's timed!!

Like I say, it's been weeks and I could never get all those threes matched together before I ran out of time! 

This morning I said to myself "Self, if I can beat the clock this morning and win this sucker, I am going to go to the Farmer's Market." 

I hadn't been in a few years, mainly because of being unsure of the parking situation, getting myself across uneven terrain, being joshled by shoppers.... But, that is just being a coward! Where is my MoJo? 

My Drive? My Daring?

So, I am matching up three watermelons, three apples, three pies etc, etc, etc on my Kindle and all of a sudden I have them all matched............

TaDa

with 2 minutes to spare! 

So, I closed the front door behind me, drove downtown and even found a parking spot very close to the market. SomeOne was looking out for me! 

No local veggies yet. I did buy some cage free eggs, 2 huge tomatoes which turned out to be yummy. I made me a tomato sandwich once home! and bought some home-grown Oyster Mushrooms. 

Now I am not a mushroom person. I'll eat them out at a restaurant but I never cook with them. This is gonna be interesting! 

Anyone with any great recipes or ideas for Oyster Mushrooms?

My Good Friday

                                                            Good Friday!!

I woke up this morning and jumped outta bed. I had places to go today. Well, just one place but it's one I have participated in on Good Friday more years than I care to remember! 

                                          It was Shirley's Easter Bake Sale. 

She's been doing it for around 40 years and yes, she retired the beginning of last year. Ha Ha.  Couldn't stand not being in that kitchen so she is doing a much scaled-down version now. 

She added two new vendors to her show. Her daughter, Brittany, that makes cheesecakes in a jar, Fig preserves and several different 'heat' selections of Pepper Jelly. A very successful day for her today. I got a cherry cheesecake and chose a mild pepper jelly. I like it served atop cream cheese on crackers. 

And, there was a young lady named Madison who is just starting her business. She makes sour dough bread, dinner rolls and cookies. My selections from Madison were cookies and dinner rolls. Can't wait to heat a couple of those up and slather them with butter. That may be my supper tonight! 

People were lined up down the sidewalk waiting for the doors to open. Madison sold out in about 30 minutes!! Brittany had more products than Madison but she sold a lot and of course, Shirley sold all her chick cookies and people were still asking for John's fudge long after it was gone. I didn't even get any of theirs! 😞

I saw several people I had known when I lived in Wakefield. Couldn't remember their names!! But, I hadn't seen them in forever so I will blame that and not my age on my forgetfulness!. Isn't it funny how you forget things you don't think about often and it happens so much more often at this stage of my life. But, hey, I drove up there (30 miles), made myself useful, saw some friends, ate lunch with my family after the crowd of customers dwindled down and then I drove home. I got here, piled up on my bed and read my new Southern Living Magazine. 

                                            It was a good day! 

I think I will go in the kitchen and heat up a couple of those dinner rolls.... 

Easter Door Wreath

 I finally got around to adding my Easter stuff to my front door wreath. Sometimes I just put things off but I've been busy, y'all.. 

I've gone through every shelf, drawer, closet you name it, I been through it. I have tossed out 2 garbage bags full of just junk. Why do we hang on to things that we can't use, don't want (but somebody gave me that, they might wonder where it went) etc. etc. etc.  

So, yes, I have been busy. And, in my dragging out I ran across a couple Easter items and added them to my wreath. I mean, Easter is one week away! But, I'll enjoy them that one week and perhaps anyone else passing my door will too. 

it was the lillies and the eggs that I added. Makes it look more Eastery. 

What are y'all doing for Easter? 

I'm not sure just yet. 

The Golden Goose That Laid the Golden Egg

 Mid-February we held our activity planning meeting and came up with a few great ideas for the residents here at The Commons at Centerbrooke to enjoy. 

This one lasts all month long and how cute it is!! A golden egg will be hidden each day. The resident who finds it gets a prize. 

I couldn't be happier that a good, good friend of mine found that golden egg on March 1st. 

Her name is Evelyn. She's a retired nurse, a good Christian woman, a good friend and has such a sweet, giving heart. 

I got the biggest kick out of her gift to me on my birthday. It was a card with a fake million dollar bill inside. (along with some real money) 'cause she said I was worth a million dollars to her. Now isn't that the sweetest, and so clever! 

I have made such good friends since moving into this 55+ apartment complex. Don't see the younger ones much since they are off working or shopping or whatever it is younger folks do. I've forgotten what that is like!! But, those closer my age, now we have a good time. Yes, we complain about our aches and pains but we are there for each other through thick and thin. And, we know how to party when it's time to party!!

Old Hens Hunting Eggs

 There were some old hens (and a few roosters) clucking around the courtyard this morning, looking for some eggs! 

                        Yep, we had an Easter Egg Hunt. 

It was fun but I tell you one thing, I got winded out wandering around. I had a blast the last Easter Egg Hunt that we had back in 2015. Come to think of it, a whole lot of things make me more winded now than it did back then. Amazing what time can do to a person, isn't it? 

I took some pictures but I mostly just enjoyed watching everyone scampering about with their little pails, plastic bags and baskets. They were enjoying themselves. The eggs had either candy in them or slips of paper that said prize and you went into the community room and chose a prize off the table. The two I found had candy... 

So, now we have had our fun and it's time to focus our attention on what Easter is all about. 

Easter

 Here's wishing for each of you a very blessed Easter! 

Kitchen Antics

 In my last post I said that my son was coming up to help Shirley with her Easter Bake Sale. I think he's getting a good intro in the baking business. This Sale is by order only and is weeks in the preparation. Right now Shirley and her husband have been handling it with very little help. So, Michael to the rescue. 

I went up yesterday to just hang out while they decorated fudge cut into egg shapes.

There were 70 eggs to decorate and have individual names piped on each.

I just couldn't stand it one more minute and picked up the decorating bag filled with green icing and started adding leaves so the pansy could be added. 

It has been years since I even had an icing bag in my hand. But, it was me that taught Shirley how to decorate over 50 years ago. So, a little of that is still in my brain somewhere. This is her last Easter Sale so it was my last hurrah as well. 

I loved watching those two siblings cut up. They are just 14 months apart and have always been close. 

Those two kept me entertained. They make sure it's not all work and no play. 

Kids... what joy they are at any age!

Easter Bake Sale

 My son, Michael, drove up from Alabama for a visit. Well, actually, he came up to help his sister with her Easter Bake Sale. 

This is her last Easter Bake sale. After her Christmas Cookie sale she will be retiring after 40 years of having a bakery in her home. She's always done it by order only and it's kept her busy. For several years she baked and decorated wedding cakes and birthday cakes but the last few years she has specialized in her hand decorated sugar cookies. 

It all started when she was a newly-wed, taking inspiration from her aunt who did a holiday sale of hand-made crafts. This was her first neighborhood invitation: 

Now she is on Instagram and Facebook and sends out flyers announcing her holiday sales via email to her hundreds of customers from a 75 mile radius. 

Shirley, Michael and John busy at work.

Shirley with her chick cookies.

At Christmas it was hundreds of bags of cookies and dozens of gingerbread houses 

ready for her customers to pick up. 

Christopher and Brittany, Shirley's children, were a big part of the baking process for years. 

Forty years of baking...

Congratulations, Shirley, for a job well done.

Your customers are sure gonna miss you but your Mama will love having you around more! 

Easter Blessings to You All